China’s Citic Ltd has confirmed a $2.5bn writedown at its disastrous iron ore joint venture with Clive Palmer as commodity prices plunge — forcing the Australian politician and businessman to deny he is going broke.
中国中信股份有限公司(Citic Ltd)确认，随着大宗商品价格暴跌，已对其与澳大利亚政客和商人克莱夫•帕尔默(Clive Palmer)的灾难性铁矿石合资企业进行了25亿美元减值拨备，此举迫使帕尔默否认他将要破产。
The sprawling state-owned enterprise and Mr Palmer are embroiled in an increasingly acrimonious dispute over Sino Iron, the ill-fated venture that was already five times over budget before iron ore prices collapsed.
庞大的国有企业中信与帕尔默围绕中澳铁矿(Sino Iron)陷入了一场越来越激烈的纠纷，这个命运多舛的合资项目开发成本超出预算五倍，到头来却迎来铁矿石价格暴跌的窘境。

Citic has accused Mr Palmer of misusing A$12m ($9.5m) through his company Mineralogy to finance his election campaign. He denies the allegations and claims that Citic owes him royalties related to Sino Iron.
中信指责帕尔默通过他的公司Mineralogy挪用1200万澳元（合950万美元），以资助他的竞选。帕尔默否认这些指控，并称，在中澳铁矿特许权使用费这一块，中信欠他的钱。
On Tuesday The Australian newspaper ran a story under the headline “Iron or bust? Clive Palmer’s fortune shrinks daily”, alleging his wealth was being crushed by the iron ore price crash.
周二，《澳大利亚人报》(The Australian)发表了一篇标题为“铁或破产？克莱夫•帕尔默的财富一天比一天缩水”的报道，称他的财富正受到铁矿石价格暴跌的沉重打击。
Mr Palmer told Australia’s state broadcaster the reports were “just not true” and said later in Canberra: “I haven’t got any debts, I’ve got billions of dollars of assets and I’m a happy chappy.”
帕尔默对澳大利亚国家电视台表示，此类报道“根本不属实”，随后他在堪培拉说：“我没有任何债务，我拥有数十亿澳元的资产，我是一个快乐的家伙。”
Sino Iron, set up in 2006, finally began shipping ore late in 2013. Citic on Tuesday said the latest charges, about which it warned in January, involved a $2.5bn hit to operating profits including $1.7bn in intangible value and $794m in the value of property and equipment.
成立于2006年的中澳铁矿，在2013年后期终于开始发运铁矿石。中信周二表示，最新的减值拨备（该公司曾在1月对此发布预警）导致营业利润缩水25亿美元，包括17亿美元的无形资产减值和7.94亿美元的房地产和设备减值。
The group also said it was undertaking a “root and branch” review of its sprawling operations, which include financial services and a football team alongside mining, property, telecoms and others. Its property and natural resources interests would be first in line for an overhaul.
该集团还表示，正对其庞大业务（包括金融服务和一个足球队，加上采矿、房地产、电信等等）展开全面评估。其房地产和自然资源权益将是首批整改对象。
Citic considers itself in the vanguard of state-owned enterprise reform in China after its SOE parent last year transformed its ailing Hong Kong-listed unit with the injection of $37bn in mainland assets.
中信自认为是中国国企改革的先锋，去年其国有的母公司将370亿美元内地资产注入了境况不佳的香港上市子公司，使后者得以转型。
Chang Zhenming, chairman, warned of the challenges of bringing the Hong Kong and mainland operations of the group together.
中信董事长常振明警告，整合香港和内地业务的努力面临种种挑战。
“No one should assume that just because we are merging Chinese assets, companies and people, it will be a quick and easy process. Hong Kong and Beijing approach certain things differently,” he said.
他说，任何人都不应假设，仅仅因为中信在合并中国的资产、公司和人员，一切就将是一个快速和容易的过程；香港和北京在某些事情上的做法是不同的。
Citic reported on Tuesday that net profits dropped 20 per cent in 2014 to HK$39.8bn ($5.1bn) as a result of the Sino Iron charges. Without those, profits would have risen 10 per cent led by a strong performance from Citic Bank, the group said.
中信周二报告，对中澳铁矿进行减值拨备后，2014年净利润下降20%，至398亿港元（合51亿美元）。该集团称，得益于中信银行(Citic Bank)的强劲表现，若剔除上述减值影响，则去年利润上升10%。
Mr Chang said he wanted to rebalance financial and non-financial businesses, and to improve the profitability of the non-financial units. The financial division contributed 40 per cent of revenues but 98 per cent of pre-tax profits.
常振明表示，他希望调整金融和非金融业务的平衡，并提高非金融单位的盈利能力。去年金融部门贡献了40%的营收和高达98%的税前利润。